Gandhinagar, Aug 3 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi on Monday congratulated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Satish Patel after his decisive victory in the Manjalpur Assembly by-election, describing the result as an endorsement of the party’s development agenda.
Satish Patel retained the Vadodara constituency for the BJP after defeating Congress candidate Bhikha Rabari by 30,630 votes.
The BJP candidate secured 55,481 votes, while Rabari got 24,851 votes, according to the official result declared after 20 rounds of counting.
Congratulating the newly elected MLA, Chief Minister Patel said, “Heartiest congratulations to BJP candidate Satish Patel on the resounding victory in the Manjalpur Assembly by-election.”
The Chief Minister also congratulated party workers for their efforts during the campaign.
“My heartfelt congratulations to all the dedicated workers of the party who remain committed to public welfare with the spirit of ‘Nation First’,” he said.
Expressing gratitude to the electorate, Patel added, “I sincerely thank the people of Manjalpur for their unwavering trust in the BJP’s politics of development.”
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for the country, the Chief Minister said, “As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presented the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’, I urge everyone to make the best possible contribution towards realising this vision through comprehensive development at the local level.”
Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi also congratulated the BJP candidate in a post.
“Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to Bharatiya Janata Party’s popular candidate Satendra Patel (Satish Patel) on his grand and historic victory in the Manjalpur Assembly by-election in Vadodara,” Sanghavi said.
The by-election was necessitated by the death of veteran BJP MLA and former minister Yogesh Patel, who had represented the constituency for several terms and was one of the party’s senior leaders in Vadodara.
Polling for the by-election was held on July 30 and concluded peacefully with a 37.50 per cent voter turnout, lower than the 60.15 per cent recorded in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly election.
More than 2.19 lakh electors were eligible to vote across 260 polling stations, where the Election Commission had deployed extensive arrangements, including 100 per cent webcasting and CCTV surveillance.
Satish Patel, a former Vadodara Municipal Corporation councillor, former chairman of the civic body’s Standing Committee and former BJP Vadodara district president, will now represent the Manjalpur constituency in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, succeeding the late Yogesh Patel.
–IANS
